As far as reliability, will this car last me without breaking down all the time and how difficult is it to WORK on these cars. The reason I ask is I can only afford to have maintenance done by myself because we all know how the dealer rip us off.

On my impreza which is pictured above I have learned to remove the engine and trans. I have learned to replace cam seals, timing belt, trans seals, waterpump, etc., etc This is with no prior mechanic experience. I just read threads and manual. Although I have never done anything internal like head gaskets or adjusting valves. Do you guys think I will be able to handle maintenance jobs for this car.

Also I know the impreza ej22 motor is a much simpler machine as opposed to the "beamers," but my car is not to shabby with 238,000 miles and with no reliability issues.

Hey,
First off its a nice example. The BMW is a hard car to work on in my experience seems like the designers never accounted for the poor person trying to take the car apart when somthing goes wrong.
I have a 318i 93 which brakes my heart on a regular basis. I put a replacement engine in it a while back. But you will get used of working on it, sure the E36 is a beautiful car to both drive and to look at. You sound like the kind of person who is handy on cars anyhow. Go for it and the very best of luck with it.

honestly if youve done all that work on the suby you will be just fine doing any kind or work on the bmw... they are easy to work on, and there is plently of material out there if you have questions. Of course we're always here to answer any questions also. I say check it out, look for any common flaws in the e36's and see if they have been addressed. and if they have go for it. looks like a nice car...

I have made up my mind. I will just keep my car. I can't seem to see it leave;however, I am still interested in a E36. Do you guys think this one is too good to pass up just based on the info I've posted.

Rashid- my car is not a STI. It is a 97 impreza L 2.2 liter. Subaru didn't sell these cars in the US during those years. What I did was obtain JDM exterior parts and got a paint job to make it into a clone. I am still working on the drivetrain. I will probably just find a crashed WRX and swap the whole drivetrain into my car.

For those of you who might be interested. Older Imprezas are like legos. Just about every part will interchange with each other.